Absorbent tissue products such as paper towels, facial tissues, bath tissues and other similar products are designed to include several important properties. For example, the products should have good bulk, a soft feel and should be highly absorbent. The product should also have good strength and resist tearing, even while wet. Unfortunately, it is very difficult to produce a high strength tissue product that is also soft and highly absorbent. Usually, when steps are taken to increase one property of the product, other characteristics of the product are adversely affected.
For instance, softness is typically increased by decreasing or reducing cellulosic fiber bonding within the tissue product. In the past, for example, tissue webs have been subjected to various different types of creping processes in order to increase softness. In one embodiment, for instance, a wet tissue web is pressed against a heated rotating drum, such as a Yankee dryer, and creped from the surface of the drum after sufficient drying. Creping the web increases the softness and bulk of the web by compacting the web and reducing fiber bonding.
In another embodiment, tissue webs have been subjected to a print creping process in which a bonding agent is applied to the surface of a dry web for adhering the web to a creping drum. For example, a print creping process is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,879,257 to Gentile, et al., which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. In Gentile, et al., a process is disclosed in which a bonding material is applied in a fine, defined pattern to one side of a fibrous web. The web is then adhered to a heated creping surface and creped from the surface. A bonding material is applied to the opposite side of the web and the web is similarly creped. The process disclosed in Gentile, et al. produces wiper products having exceptional bulk, outstanding softness and good absorbency. The surface regions of the web also provide excellent strength, abrasion resistance, and wipe-dry properties.
Although the above creping processes have been very successful in increasing the softness of tissue webs, in some applications, creping the web can cause greater amounts of lint and slough to be produced during use. In this regard, a need exists for a process for producing tissue products that produces reduced lint levels during use.